This paper reviews the dynamic effect of thin-slice solid-state lasers subjected to frequency-shifted optical feedback, which led to the discovery of the self-mixing modulation effect, and its applications to quantum-noise-limited versatile laser metrology systems with extreme optical sensitivity.

We analyze the dynamics of a solid-state laser driven by an injected sinusoidal field. For this type of laser, the cavity round-trip time is much shorter than its fluorescence time, yielding a dimensionless ratio of time scales σ ≪ 1. Analytical criteria are derived for the existence, stability, and bifurcations of phase-locked states. We find three distinct unlocking mechanisms. First, if the ...

Anti-Stokes fluorescence can be used to cool a material if its radiative quantum efficiency is nearly unity. Until recently, the only solid which had shown net cooling was an ytterbium-doped heavy metal fluoride glass. Reasons for the lack of success with other materials include energy transfer to unwanted impurities, trapping of the fluorescence by internal reflection and reabsorption, and non...

This investigation explores, for the first time, the random laser behavior of ground powder obtained from organic-inorganic hybrid materials based on Rhodamine 6G incorporated into a di-ureasil matrix. The experimental results, both in the spectral and temporal domains, obtained by pumping with picosecond laser pulses, show the existence of efficient random laser emission in this system. Finall...